Hero stops maniac with assault rifle at Waffle House, but gunman who killed four still on loose

Authorities said suspect Travis Reinking killed four people after storming a Waffle House in Tennessee wearing only a green jacket.

He wasn't going out like that.

A brave customer who disarmed a killer gunman at a Nashville Waffle House early Sunday said he was determined not to be a victim of yet another murderous rampage.

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"If it was going to come down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me," local resident James Shaw said a few hours after wrestling an assault rifle from a gunman who had shot and killed four people at the suburban restaurant before fleeing the carnage.

Authorities said suspect Travis Reinking stormed a Waffle House in the Antioch neighborhood shortly before 3:30 a.m. wearing only a green jacket and holding an AR-15 in his hands.

Shaw, 29, who was eating an early morning breakfast with friends, jumped into action. He rushed the gunman, grabbed the barrel of the rifle and yanked it away before Reinking could shoot anyone else. Shaw tossed the weapon over a counter, but not before he suffered a gunshot wound and burns from grabbing the gun's barrel.

Witnesses and survivors said Shaw saved a lot of lives.

But Shaw would have none of the hero talk.

Law enforcement officials work the scene of the fatal Waffle House shooting. (George Walker IV/AP)

"I was doing it just to save myself," he said at a news conference later in the day. "My doing that, I did save other people, but I don't want people to think I was the Terminator or Superman or anybody like that."

Shaw terminated the immediate threat, but Reinking — who could be armed with another weapon — was able to escape and was still on the loose late Sunday.

Authorities issued murder warrants for Reinking, of Illinois, who they believe ran to his nearby apartment to put on pants.

"He clearly came armed with a lot of firepower intending to devastate the south Nashville area," said city police spokesman Don Aaron.

The victims were identified as Taurean Sanderlin, 29, a Waffle House employee, Joe Perez, 20, Akilah Dasilva, 23, and DeEbony Groves, 21. Sanderlin and Perez were shot in the parking lot, and patrons Dasilva and Groves in the restaurant.

Reinking, 29, had previous run-ins with federal law enforcement and Illinois authorities.

The Secret Service arrested him last July for being in a restricted area near the White House, where he said he wanted to talk with President Trump. He was later released.

Illinois authorities and the FBI interviewed him and revoked his firearms authorization. Four weapons were seized, including the AR-15 rifle used in the Waffle House shooting, Aaron said.

Officials returned the weapons to Reinking's father, on the condition he would keep them out of his son's hands. But the father gave the guns back to Reinking, Aaron said, adding that two of the four guns are missing.

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In 2016, Reinking threatened to kill himself, and cops who arrived at a CVS parking lot said he told them singer Taylor Swift had been stalking him.

Chuck Cordero, 50, was heading to the restaurant to buy a cup of coffee Sunday morning when the deadly chaos unfolded.

"He did not say anything," Cordero told The Tennessean. "He pulled up, got out of his car and was all business."

“If it was going to come down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me,” hero James Shaw Jr. (pictured) said.

A pickup truck that pulled up to the restaurant was registered to Reinking, police said. The alleged killer waited in the parking lot for about four minutes before shooting two people outside.

The nearly naked shooter then used his assault rifle to pump bullet holes into the Waffle House window.

He then went inside, where he started shooting at frightened patrons, police said, one of whom died at the scene. Shaw charged at the gunman during a break from the shooting. He and a few friends had just arrived at the restaurant from a frat house party when the gunman came in.

"I had a chance to stop him, and thankfully I stopped him," Shaw said.

Shaw was treated for the gunshot wound to his arm and some abrasions, officials said.

"He really saved some people. I'm positive he did," Cordero told the newspaper. "Had that guy had a chance to reload his weapon, there was plenty more people in that restaurant."

A diner inside the Waffle House wrestled the rifle away from the naked gunman. (Metro Nashville Police Department)

Waffle House spokesman Pat Warner expressed grief on Sunday.

"This is a very sad day for the Waffle House family, and we ask for everyone to keep the victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers," he said in an email to the Daily News.

Nashville Mayor David Briley called it a "tragic day for our city any time people lose their lives at the hands of a gunman.

"My heart goes out to the families and friends of every person who was killed or wounded in this morning's shooting," he continued in a statement. "I know all of their lives will be forever changed by this devastating crime."

Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer hugged Shaw after thanking him for his actions.

"You don't get to meet too many heroes in life, Mr. Shaw," Ehmer told him. "We are forever in your debt and grateful for the courage you displayed. And so I thank you."

Bullet holes are seen at the Waffle House on April 22, 2018. (George Walker IV/AP)

The reality of the situation didn't hit Shaw until a paramedic asked him in the ambulance if he had children.

"That's when it really hit home," Shaw said, thinking about his 4-year-old daughter.

The fact that Reinking was still free left Shaw "uneasy," he said, and the shooter might be mad he got the gun away.

"But I don't think he'll purposely come after me," he said.

"But then again, I didn't think Waffle House would be getting shot up at 3:30 in the morning while I'm there — or ever."